How and Why to We Celebrate Thanksgiving Day

Updated on November 19, 2011

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is in fact a federal holiday in the United States from the year 1941. The day is traditionally religious in nature; where each one thanks God for his or her life. The origin can also be traced to the Harvest festival observed during the ancient times. What ever be it, Thanksgiving is now a secular celebration. I think you enjoyed my previous How and Where article

Thanksgiving Day Pictures

thanksgiving day

Turkey Day and Black Friday

During the Thanksgiving Day,
the we ,Americans love to feast with our family and friends. There will be
football games and parades, but feasting is the most important. The main food
for the feast is the roasted or baked turkey. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day is
also referred to as the Turkey Day.
Also on the dinner table, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, sweet
corn, cranberry sauce, fall vegetables and pumpkin pie are served. For the
vegans or vegetarians, Tofurky or
meatless turkey made of Tofu is served.

It is also a day for
community work; the less fortunate ones are given Thanksgiving feasts by the
community.

The Friday after the
Thanksgiving Day is called the Black
Friday. This is one of the busiest days in America when people begin their
Christmas shopping. Thus, Thanksgiving Week is a long holiday week, a paid
holiday for the Americans, after the Halloween Day.

History of Thanksgiving Feast

In 1620, a group of English
people called the Pilgrims went to
settle in North America. They were very
religious people who set off to America
in a ship called the Mayflower. They landed in a place they called Plymouth. Their first
winter was harsh and many of them died due to cold and hunger. In the spring,
the Pilgrims made friends with the Native Americans, who taught them to grow corn,
beans and pumpkins. After their first harvest, the Pilgrims invited the Natives
to a feast, which all of us remember as the Thanksgiving feast.

Thanksgiving gifts Ideas

Thanksgiving Day Activities

Christmas Shopping begins the
day after Thanksgiving Day. Sports are an important part of Thanksgiving
celebration. The most commonly played is the American Football. However, Golf
and auto racing have also become popular.

Thanksgiving parades consist
of floats with specific themes and images, balloons of cartoon characters and
high school bands.

Presidential Turkey Pardon

Ever since the year 1947, the
National Turkey Federation and the
Poultry and Egg National Board gives the President a Turkey at a
White House ceremony. But there have been occasions when the President
officially pardons the Turkey
rather than eat them.

In the year 2003, the then
American President George Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with
the US
troops in Iraq.
In his Thanksgiving Declaration there, he praised the US troops of
their achievements and thanked them of their efforts to fight the extremists in
Iraq.
He later enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner with them.

My Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Apart from God, we can thank
all those who helped us till date with our daily struggle.I personally would thank my Parents for my
wonderful life, my teachers for their valuable guidance, and my friends for the
lovely time I spend with them. I need to thank the soldiers who guard my
country’s borders and the police men who maintain the law and order. Lastly, I
thank the Hub pages for giving me an opportunity to write this piece of Hub.

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Comments 24 comments

The reason that we celebrate Thanksgiving is to give thanks to our ancesters that made a path for us long ago . Also, because that's when our families come together to share experieces, jokes, stories, etc . Thanksgiving is a special time when families can join around a dinner table and talk about the good things .

Rookie70 6 years ago

Great hub, and very informative. Thanks. I want to ask you, why do we celebrate Christmas?

Kevin Peter 6 years ago from Global Citizen Author

Please wait for my next hub 'How and Why to we celebrate Christmas?'

Blank 6 years ago

You have made a mistake. It was in 1621. Not 1620.

Sorry but I am sort of a smarty pants. Please don't take any offense.

Kevin Peter 6 years ago from Global Citizen Author

thanks for the information , i will correct the same !!!

htodd 5 years ago from United States

Thanks for the hub

Andrew 5 years ago

well i think so that this celebration is very important nowadays because we can share with our relatives and family when we celebrate this day.

Yo 5 years ago

Thanksgiving is a pagan holiday research that please. And with the nonsense of that prayer that is garbage. It's all worship of false idols. And to celebrate thanksgiving and Christmas sin. Our holy days are in the bible to follow in. lev chapter.

Sustainable Sue 5 years ago from Altadena CA, USA

Kevin - Please check your second paragraph. It's almost entirely a duplication of the first one.

cool cat 5 years ago

i think thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to celebrate with family and friends and the second paragraph is the same as the first one

da cool one 5 years ago

i think the hub is important because you know how to celebrate diffent events in different ways and this website does that1 its really helpful

On the eve of US Thanksgiving 2011 I am reading your excellent article. And will add this bit. It was President Lincoln that selected the last Thursday of the month as a national holiday. Until then it was celebrated by states who sometimes chose their own times for celebration.

Good and interesting Hub.

KIKIYO 5 years ago

Good and interesting Hub

Kelsey 5 years ago

Great story, i really enjoyed your article :)

summerlune 4 years ago

I am a Chinese .will anybody please tell me ,how do Americans greet each other on Thanksgiving Day, I really want to know .Is it something like ,"Merry Thanksgiving Day" or "thank you"

Sharren Young 4 years ago

Thanksgiving day is a festival to celebrete ur appreciate for ue friends and loves.

Kevin Peter 3 years ago from Global Citizen Author

Hi megni,

Thanks a lot to find my hub interesting.

Hi KIKIYO,

Thanksfor leaving a comment.

Hi Kelsey,

Thanks for enjoying my hub.

Hi summerlune,

I am not sure about the correct way of how Americans greet. But I will let you know as soon as I make it sure. Thanks for your comment.

Hi Sharren,

Thanks a lot for this information.

Thyenns 23 months ago

Hey Joe Runner, My family and I will be tailevrng up from Florida to Louisville for Thanksgiving. We would love to run this 5 miler Thanksgiving morning. Is there a chance you could send me a copy of the registration? Thanks!

Turco 23 months ago

Amy,If you found someone that ndeeed it to complete a bed you might get as much as fifty dollars. No dealer that I am aware of would bother putting it in stock owing to the extremely limited market. You should go to Google Images and search “Simmons bed spring”. One or more might turn up and might have some dollar information connected. The spring is probably 60-80 years old and made so well that it is still useful. You can put a zippered cover over it for cleanliness and use it as a box spring.Good Luck,Marshall

Qamar 23 months ago

I have a metal Slumber King box spring frame numrebs on it are 4 FT 6 or G. The spring looks like cast metal with flat metal slats that are connected with a bunch of small springs. Do you have any information on the age of this product and whether or not there is a market for it? Thanks